The primary objective of the museum is to accumulate and conserve a documented record of the insect fauna of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and other areas.

An insect museum is an information center or "library" where properly preserved and labeled specimens are a permanent source of information on structures, geographical and seasonal variations, habitats, ecology, host-parasite association, and evolutionary trends of insects. The Frost Entomological Museum collections currently represent regional insect biodiversity in the eastern United States.